User Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by Regenpak:

3.6/5 rDev -10.9%look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

My boss brought this beer from Germany in a 24-crate. Poured as per instructions on the 50 cl bottle (first 3/4, then swirl the bottle, then pour the last) into a tall Weizenbier glass I got 3 cm of fine bubbly foam that slowly disappeared. The Hefe in the almost orange beer caused a thick cloudiness. The smell was wonderfully fresh, sweets and the everpresent banana. The taste lacked some, having a kind of chemical tang to it. The rather heavy carbonation made it more pleasant. Still, for me this is one of the better Weizenbiere. Be sure to serve cold.

The Franziskaner Hefeweizen is the must have Weizenbier. This beer is the alpha and the omega of wheat beers, it's brewing culture dates back to the 14th century and it is one of the oldest in Bavaria. Any Bavarian would agree that Franziskaner is the complete wheat beer based on look, smell and taste of course.

If you don't like it then you don't like Weizenbier. But it is hard not to. In the world of beers, it is a pleasant difference to any Pils or Lager beer or other party beers. This is the beer of men, the taste of yeast makes it recognizable from any other beer. After the first sip, you will know that you are drinking something special.

Franziskaner is simply one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. It has a cloudy orange-yellow look to it which is typical of most wheat beers. The smell is mostly banana and breadiness with a hint of almost shortbread cookie sweetness underlying this. The taste of Franziskaner is where it really excels. This beer is remarkably smooth and drinkable. Banana, vanilla, and light orange peel blend together into one of the most velvety sips of beer I've ever had. Definitely better on tap.

Aroma: some citrus joins the characteristics on the nose - quite a nice addition. All told a well-rounded flavour profile.

Taste: all of those flavours come through on the finish. Quite sweet, with a pleasant yeast and alcohol warmth.

Aftertaste: again spot-on. Medium in body with a full feel and decent moderate carbonation.

Mouth feel: a case of 20 x 500mL is AU$75, so an equivalent case of 24 x 330mL would be around AU$59. pretty good for a beer of this calibre.

Overall: a great quality traditional German Hefeweizen from one of their best breweries in my opinion. A good selection of flavours with a touch of citrus thrown in for good measure. A great price too at AU$75 a case of 20 x 500mL.

I'm not a big fan of the hefeweizen style or wheat beers, but this one is outstanding. This should be the benchmark for this style. I haven't had any American hefeweizen's come close to this one. I love the banana notes, clove, touch of caramel and nut. This is a great summer beer.

Another popular Hefe that is often in my fridge-- smell is not as robust as say, Hacker-Pschorr hefe, taste is not quite as good as Weihenstephan hefe, and feel is not quite as complex as Paulaner hefe, but is just as drinkable as these fine beers and a very good beer in its own right. Carbonation is a bit on the high side, and has a very light feel compared to the others--easy to tell since I just so happen to have all 3 bottles open with a Franziskaner in front of me, with the other 3 listed above! (I'd better get to drinking these up, I know, what a rough life LOL)

Franziskaner is also much more readily available around here, which is a big plus. I even found a bar that has this beer on tap, which is impressive to me since I am in the Central Indiana area where for some reason German beer is not all that easy to find. The first time I ordered this beer on tap, the bartender thought I was asking for a 'Francis Conner' and gave me a weird look for a couple of seconds until I pointed at the tap head! BTW, beer on tap tastes just like the beer out the bottle, which is a very good thing.

This is continuosly one of my favorite hefes in the world,pours a deep yellow/orange color with a very nice big blooming head.The aroma is yeasty and I always got somewhat of a smokey aroma from it with some banana clove presence.The taste is refreshing and a little lemony to go along with some nice spiciness.This is the first hefe I think of when thinking of good German style wheat beers.

This review is for the Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse beer. The bottle says that it is 355ml aka 12oz. I love me some wheat beers! This one was very good. I served it in a wheat beer glass (the way its meant to be consumed). After the head dissipated I took my first sip and I have to say this is a great beer! I Loved it. You can get some yeast, bread, banana, and spices (typical hefe notes). I drank this beer very cold, I think that's how this should be consumed. It is a refreshing beer so consume it cold to cool you down. The Franziskaner was about $1.50 for a 12oz bottle. I also drank an Ayinger Bräu Weisse right before I drank this beer. I felt like the Ayinger was just smoother and more enjoyable. It was bubbly like champagne in the mouth. The negative to the Ayinger is that it cost me $3.50 a bottle (16.9oz).

Make no mistake, this Franziskaner is a top beer! It is a better buy in my opinion than the Ayinger. I'd drink this beer no problem. I just felt it didn't have as much flavor? That could be my fault... being drunk and eating food could have skewed my palate. I drank the Ayinger while sober. :)

My reviews are more mental notes for me. I don't really care about smells, appearance, etc. Just the overall taste.

On tap at the Oak Cafe. Pours a soft shade of gold with some honey-yellow that shows itself when held up to any amount of light. There's a very light translucency to the beer, although it's still mostly hazy as I would expect most original hefeweizens to be. The frothy, off-white head settles quicker than expected, despite its large size. Moderate lacing was left behind.

There are plenty of fruity esters in the aroma of Franziskaner's Hefe to please those who enjoy their German beers a little sweeter or fruitier. Some spice and clove are definitely there, just a bit more buried than usual. The ripe banana, soft wheat, and residual sugar-like sweetness are in overdrive, along with maybe a slight hint of cereal grains at the very tail end. As with most hefes, the yeast steals the show, and that's how it should be.

Slightly to my surprise, the flavor of Franziskaner's Hefe as it hits my palate is a bit lighter and less robust than the aroma; they don't "pop" or rock my palate like I know they are capable of, and it's mildly upsetting. The flavors available on my tongue are pretty nice, however, consisting of a bit of banana and light pear and goes hand-in-hand with an ever-so-faint tartness. Yeast esters go wild, as well, including spice, clove, and a touch of white pepper.

The yeast profile plays nicely with the huge wheat-and-grain background upon which this beer is built. Somewhere around the middle, a pretty mild mustiness comes into play - my guess would be from the hops, and they seem to be of the Noble variety, although I'm just throwing that out there. The smooth and creamy mouth feel of this hefe feels nice, although the body could stand to be a bit thicker. Medium-heavy carbonation with a yeast-filled and wheat soaked aftertaste.

Very enjoyable and easy drinking - this one will go down like a champ, no doubt. It's a bit sweeter and less spicy than I personally like my hefeweizens, but I'm sure there are people out there who find this profile more suitable for their palate. As always, your mileage may vary. This is still a great-tasting and well crafted beer, although when stuff like Weihenstephaner's Hefeweissbier is just as available and around the same price, it would be hard to choose this one again.

This a classic looking cloudy straw-colored beer with big rocky white head. Lovely. Aromas are very muted and they are of yeast and clove. This hefe has a bigger banana flavor than most, but an even bigger berry/ strawberry flavor chases it for a delicious combo on the palate that is called back by a slight hop twang and just a whisp of clove in the finish. This is great beer with a wonderful interplay of classic flavors. Citrus character is notabley abcent and I find I don't miss it. In fact, its almost more refreshing without. Very true to style, but still stands out. This is one of the best wheat beers I've ever had.